Christian perseverance is not powering through until we become spiritually tough enough. Holiness has never meant proving how strong we can become on our own. We stand because grace has already surrounded us with everything we need to remain faithful.   Read More

Our bodies are good. Marriage is good. Sexuality is good. Food and drink are gifts. Time is a gift. Human relationships are gifts. But good things become destructive when desire becomes our master.   Read More

God’s grace doesn’t only forgive what we have been. The Holy Spirit renews the way we think, speak, work, respond, forgive, and love. We cooperate with that grace by taking off habits that belong to the old life and practicing ways of living that resemble Jesus. And we do this together.   Read More

If the church is going to become the kind of community Paul has described, we need more than good intentions. We need the Spirit to strengthen us. We need Christ to shape us. We need the love of God to become the soil in which our lives are rooted.   Read More

Christ takes people who were far away and brings them near. Christ takes people who were separated and makes them family. Christ takes people who were spiritually dead and makes them alive. Then the Holy Spirit begins forming those people together into a place where the presence of God can be seen in the world.   Read More

We may sometimes wish that power looked more spectacular. But resurrection power often works quietly before it works visibly. It breaks the power of sin. It teaches us to forgive. It forms patience where anger once ruled. It creates generosity where fear once held tightly. It makes a divided group of people into the Body of Christ.   Read More